Also, do not worry, from now on, my questions will have yours, Eskies and a couple of other names in them to come help me!
Somoene please help! A million questions about coils before I build!
- Thread starter drainbamage8
- Start date
- th_trl_thread_readers 0
- Status
For the cotton, if you get pads, just look up videos about "Scottish roll"... it's basically stretching out the cotton with the grain (the direction of the fibers) then rolling it into a "tube". Makes the wicking a lot better.
Oh sure, watch more videos, then I'll have 14 more questions! I will, if i ever get done making dinner! Please tell me making dinner is more complicated, it'll make me feel better!
Can't really say, you haven't seen me cook..
Or you haven't seen me cook... just make me feel better!
Most of the tutorials you see will dry fire the coil - heat it up without any wick or juice. My understanding is that this should not be done with Ni and Ti.
One practical difference between 316L and 317L is that most TC mods now come with a setting for 316L but not for 317L, so 316L might be simpler to use.
The iStick 40W you're using is an older device. I think it only has TC for Ni200, so you might need a different device if you want to use other coils in TC.
Actuqlly, you are able to unlock a Ti setting for the istick40 also, and I know people have used the Ti setting to use ss, just probably not going to be me! Thank you for the reply to the difference between 316 and 317 and about not dry firing Ni or Ti!
Guess what? I have another question!
So, cleaning the wire, can I just use alcohol, do I need to use fire? (Too early, I honestly typed 'does I need to use fire')
I don't have a blow torch! I mean, I would love to play with one but I am a bit accident prone, and I mostly like having hair.
I do have fire sticks though, well, technically, they probably have another name, the ones you start campfires or grills with.
Though any way to make this less dangerous to me, the better!
So, cleaning the wire, can I just use alcohol, do I need to use fire? (Too early, I honestly typed 'does I need to use fire')
I don't have a blow torch! I mean, I would love to play with one but I am a bit accident prone, and I mostly like having hair.
I do have fire sticks though, well, technically, they probably have another name, the ones you start campfires or grills with.
Though any way to make this less dangerous to me, the better!
First, safety: Nickel (NI/NI200) or Titanium (TI), NEVER heat those up outside of temp control.... if you use these metals and the coil gets dirty, throw them out and build new.
If you have Khantal (KH) or Stainless (SS), you can dry heat them up but never go beyond a dull red while pulsing, otherwise the metal can and will oxidize and it's not good.
So if you plan to clean a KH or SS coil, it's simply a case of removing the wick, rinse under gently running water (making sure that you aren't getting water on your mod), pulse the power bit by bit , rinse and repeat until the coil is clean.
The goal is to burn the gunk off without making your coil go too red. If the gunk is stuck, use ceramic tweezers or similar to strum the coil like a guitar string, gently, just to make the pieces of burnt gunk come/fall off.
Do NOT use flammable liquids or substances such as alcohol.
Last edited:
Safety first! Sorry, first thing I thought.
I honestly meant before I use it, I see people posting about cleaning and/or burning? (fireing? blowtorching?!) wire before using it, but Eskie answered that and this was something I didn't even think to ask yet! So thank you (though I do like to be annoying with my 427 questions)!
So, basically ditto everything I just told Eskie. Thank you so much, fallen, for everything. I was kind of terrified by you at first! You were talking about spaced coils and stuff, like I could actually do that lol. However, you kept responding to my many questions and comments with so much helpful information and told me 'hey it's actually easy' and told me how to do it without making me feel dumb. You have made me feel much more at ease and made this so much easier for me. I really truly appreciate everything you have done/ said/ posted and for putting up with me. I honestly can't thank you enough. I'm so happy you found my thread and that you are here.
No worries at all..
Some people will have some bad advice simply because it's how they learned and never bothered looking at all the "angles" of their approach.
Using a torch/flame on the coil: not good. I did some tests, and you can't heat the wire evenly, can cause it to become brittle, overheating it is very easy (so it oxidizes). It's a lot better to use your mod (or if you get a tester that can heat the coil that's even better) to dry heat the coil.
Why it's a good thing to just "cook" any coil (heat it up just a bit without going red) when new and before you wick it is simply that it's going to burn off any residue oil or other coating it might have. You'll press the button a few times and see some smoke coming from it... that's what you want. Even with NI and TI you need to do this, but again, lowest heat possible, just enough to get the coil hot to burn this crap off, and it'll make the coil/metal a bit harder. If you go with SS, then you don't have to worry as much about the dry heating thing.
The thing about dry burning a SS or KH coil when you build it, is that 1) gets rid of that coating, 2) the metal hardens a bit (this tempers it) and 3) you can see if you have hot spots (heats up unevenly). Doing spaced coils can make this very easy, most coils I build, upon a quick tests, 99% of the time now they are perfect as is (including dual builds).
For the first time, I'd recommend that you have fun with it, make yourself a couple of coils that are not going to be for vaping, just for practice, so you can glow then as red as you like, just to get the feel of it... (Note: might sound silly but just a reminder: these coils when heated are VERY hot, so do your building in a safe environment, nothing flammable around, and if you're using your mod to build on, make sure that it's not going to tip over, etc.)
Once you get some practice and ready to try a real usable coil, the glowing should be done in a dark environment to see it faster/easier, and stay with a dull glow.
I'm starting to feel like I should be paying you spending so much time explaining so much stuff to me! I will now be trying to work about 37 hours a day!
Have I told you thank you yet? Honestly, thank you so much. I truly can't say it enough.
I promise I will try to not start myself and my house on fire. Probably not the cat either. Ok, fine, no touching anything with a hot coil! Not even if I really want to brand an apple or something!
So I'm thinking this will all be a lot easier if I just have a slumber party at my house next weekend! Well easier for me anyway.
Ok, going to order wire and cotton!
One more info bit for when you're ready to start building:
A good way to ensure that your coil is good and ready before you close your tank up is to:
After you've done all the steps to ensure that you don't have hot spots and that if you've got a dual coil setup that it's heating up evenly with a few pulses and seen both coils do that gentle red from the center thing, you'll be wicking it.
Some people are rough with their wicking and don't realize that they just messed everything up and now have hot spots as they forced the wick in and ended up making the wraps touch be not be even. The can also end up with an empty spot where no wick is touching the coil.
So once you've done the wicking, prime that sucker well, saturate that wick to the point of it can't hold anymore liquid... then pulse it. As you pulse it, the heat will condition your cotton, make it swell a bit, and start the wicking process. this will allow you to adjust it is needed but also to test if your coils are good to go.
Making sure that your coil is very wet, as you pulse, you should be able to see the "boiling" on the coil. If done right, it should bubble from the whole coil and not just the center or a single area. You shouldn't have any spitting or popping (unless you're wattage is set way too high or your wicking has open spaces, which, in case you're wondering, start at a low wattage, 20W should be a good starting point, and if it's too slow, increase by 5W at a time)
When everything appears good, check your OHM reading, then close the tank up, making sure that the coil does not touch anything, neither the posts nor the bell. This is where having the wick pulled a bit up at the end of the coils is good as it creates both a reservoir and a padding between the coil and the bell.
Once the tank is closed, before anything, trigger for just a second to ensure 1) you're not getting a message from the mod, and 2) that the OHM reading is the same as before you closed it.
A good way to ensure that your coil is good and ready before you close your tank up is to:
After you've done all the steps to ensure that you don't have hot spots and that if you've got a dual coil setup that it's heating up evenly with a few pulses and seen both coils do that gentle red from the center thing, you'll be wicking it.
Some people are rough with their wicking and don't realize that they just messed everything up and now have hot spots as they forced the wick in and ended up making the wraps touch be not be even. The can also end up with an empty spot where no wick is touching the coil.
So once you've done the wicking, prime that sucker well, saturate that wick to the point of it can't hold anymore liquid... then pulse it. As you pulse it, the heat will condition your cotton, make it swell a bit, and start the wicking process. this will allow you to adjust it is needed but also to test if your coils are good to go.
Making sure that your coil is very wet, as you pulse, you should be able to see the "boiling" on the coil. If done right, it should bubble from the whole coil and not just the center or a single area. You shouldn't have any spitting or popping (unless you're wattage is set way too high or your wicking has open spaces, which, in case you're wondering, start at a low wattage, 20W should be a good starting point, and if it's too slow, increase by 5W at a time)
When everything appears good, check your OHM reading, then close the tank up, making sure that the coil does not touch anything, neither the posts nor the bell. This is where having the wick pulled a bit up at the end of the coils is good as it creates both a reservoir and a padding between the coil and the bell.
Once the tank is closed, before anything, trigger for just a second to ensure 1) you're not getting a message from the mod, and 2) that the OHM reading is the same as before you closed it.
Last edited:
Sure just skip over the part about how I figure out how much cotton I need and how to get it through, making sure it's snug but not too tight like the man on YT told me!
Joking, I'm joking, in case anyone reads this and thinks I'm serious, I'm joking! But (yeah, I know, you shouldn't start sentences with but, but I don't care!) seriously, thank you so much. You've been so helpful and nice and just great!
So, my wire and cotton will be here on Monday and I'm realllllly tempted to go to the B&M 3 blocks away to see if tbey have an rta or rda faiirly cheap because I don't want to wait!
But, still, slumber party next weekend!
@Imfallen_Angel Right? See fallen (sorry, not sure which one to call you, but I liked fallen) SEE?!
Honestly, I was just driving home, thinking about random things and realized one other thing. Your posts are very intelligently and well written.
- Status
Similar threads
- Locked
